Teach children about money2:58

MORE and more kids are loading their pockets with cash as a new study has revealed the percentage of tweens getting pocket money from their parents has jumped nearly 10 per cent.

Comparative site finder.com.au surveyed 2013 parents with children aged 12 and under found more than half of tweens (children aged 8-12 years old) receive pocket money.

On average, the eldest child was given approximately $12.90 per week which works out to about $670 per year.

According to the study, the percentage of tweens getting cash from their parents has jumped from 52 per cent in 2017, up to 61 per cent this year — that’s 930,000 tweens receiving pocket money in Australia.

Or you can look at it this way — collectively, parents pay kids $628 million in pocket money (2017/18) which is enough cash to film, market and distribute a Marvel Avengers film.

It turns out younger parents are more generous when it comes to pocket money, according to the survey.

“They also tend to pay more than older parents. Parents in their twenties are also the most likely to give more than parents in their forties — $473 per year more to be exact,” finder.com.au finance expert Kate Browne told news.com.au

“75 per cent of parents in their twenties give pocket money compared to just 61 per cent of parents in their thirties. Parents in their forties are the least likely, with only 56 per cent giving pocket money.”

But, pocket money doesn’t come for free for everyone. According to another study conducted by the comparative site, in 2016, 57 per cent of children needed to complete chores like cleaning the house, washing the dishes and walking the dog to get their pocket money.

The eldest child gets approximately $12.90 per week but they have to work for it.Source:istock

“These days you can pay for almost any service: someone to organise your wardrobe, change a light bulb and even putting furniture together. Perhaps this mentality has rubbed off on parents when it comes to pocket money,” Ms Browne said.

“While it can be a challenge getting kids to help at first by using pocket money as an incentive parents might be able to get their kids to help with the household chores such as vacuuming, mowing the lawn or emptying the dishwasher.

“Teaching children in their tweens the value of hard work with the reward of financial benefits may mean they have a more responsible attitude to work which could greatly help them when they enter the workforce.”

Ms Browne said if parents taught kids to put half ($6.45) of their weekly pocket money into a high-interest savings account, by the time they were 18, they would have close to $4000 in savings.